WE BUY BOOKS!

Let me share a fond memory of days gone by...

Jessica, Claire and I drive away from campus one spring evening. Across the bridge into West Virgina, over the hills into Pennsylvania, and into the land of shopping known as Robinson Township. It's a mysterious place, this so-called Robinson Township. No homes. Just places to spend money. Impossible to find on Mapquest. A veritable vortex of American capitalism. For us college gals residing in the old steel city of Steubenville, Ohio, it is a haven of civilized commerce. And a mere 40 minute drive from the dorm to the Barnes & Noble front door! But on this particular evening we ventured beyond Barnes & Noble, beyond the disconcertingly named Quaker Steak & Lube (great wings!), to a little strip mall. What do we see in the window of one of the strip mall's tenants? "WE BUY BOOKS." Bright florescent lights make the declaration, to which we reply, "So do we!" Oh it was a happy day, the day we discovered that warm, well stocked, low priced oasis: Half Price Books. Our lives would never be the same, nor would our book shelves.

Flash forward to Spring 2009, Appleton, WI. Rolling down Casaloma Drive one Saturday morning, my eye catches a sign to my right. I squeal (really, I squealed) and accelerate, eager to get home and share the news with Jessica. "We're getting a Half Price Books!" The thrill! The joy! The potential! The new book shelves I'll need to purchase!

I finally made my first visit to the new store last night. It was everything I remembered our beloved Robinson store to be. Honestly, I think my heart grew a size or two when I walked through the door. 9 books, 2 dvds and 1 cd later, all at half price of course, I felt I'd just spent an hour with a long lost, very dear friend.